Despite what you may have assumed based on what you’ve read on this site, I do not consider myself to be a conservative. At least not entirely. I have many conservative views and some liberal ones, all flavored with a generous dash of libertarianism. That said, it should come as no surprise that I intend to vote for the Conservative Party whenever the next election takes place. This is not to say that I could not be persuaded to vote Liberal should I decided that they have put forth the platform that most aligns with my beliefs, and they rid themselves of the current leadership which is some combination of mafia like corruption, soviet style bureaucracy, and a keystone cop level of incompetence. I’d even vote NDP if their platform ever aligned with my beliefs (the chances of this happening are slim to none primarily because their platforms are consistently based on an unending array of “free” stuff). If you are not one of the approximately 50% of Canadians who vote their party no matter what, then the first question you should be asking yourself is “am I better off than I was before this government was elected?”
The answer to this depends on what you prioritize and while I cannot assess this on an individual basis, recent polls do tell us what Canadians as a whole see as the top 3 issues:
The first thing you’ll notice is that many of these can be grouped together. For example, while “The economy” is listed at number four, at least 3 other topics are related to the economy. If we make the assumption that nothing below 10% will “move the needle” from an election standpoint we get the following:
The Economy – with entries at 1, 2, 4, 5 (the carbon tax), 6 (effects on housing), and 7 this is clearly the biggest concern.
Healthcare – this is likely about wait times and a lack of doctors than it is about costs.
Climate change – We’ll assume that the carbon tax is under the economy.
Crime
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